Browsed by
Category: Itineraries & Destination Guides

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve: Four Million Acres of Solitude

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve: Four Million Acres of Solitude

Lake Clark National Park isn’t an easy place to get to. Without any access roads or ferry service, a bush plane flight or boat ride is required to get here. However, we found it well worth the effort. In fact, traveling to and from Lake Clark was one of our favorite experiences on our entire Alaska road trip. The rugged beauty and wildness here are astounding. Lake Clark National Park is home to active volcanoes, craggy jade mountains, glacial rivers,…

Read More Read More

Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Our Favorite Things and Our Biggest Regrets

Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Our Favorite Things and Our Biggest Regrets

How’s that for a dramatic click-bait title? Don’t worry this isn’t click-bait—I wouldn’t do that do you. I fully intend to share (and likely over-share) just that: our favorite things to do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and our biggest regrets from our time there earlier this year. How Was Carlsbad Caverns National Park Formed? Let’s start with a little history about how the cave was formed—or as I like to call it, “Liana’s geology geek-out time.” If you’ve read…

Read More Read More

Backpacking Denali National Park: What You Need to Know

Backpacking Denali National Park: What You Need to Know

Backpacking Denali National Park is a bucket list item for many outdoor enthusiasts. It’s also a great way to see the park beyond the established roads and trails. In fact, there aren’t any trails in much of Denali’s 6 million acres, so backpacking here is a true wilderness experience. Upon arrival in Denali National Park, we didn’t have any plans to spend a night in the great outdoors. However, after a few days of witnessing the vast landscape of rolling…

Read More Read More

More than a Mountain: Denali National Park Travel Guide

More than a Mountain: Denali National Park Travel Guide

When you think of famous landscapes in Alaska, Denali National Park is often one of the first places that comes to mind. Known as Alaska’s Crown Jewel of the North, it was the first national park in the Last Frontier. Every year over 600,000 visitors flock to the 6 million acre wilderness to hike, climb, camp, backpack, or just catch a glimpse of North America’s highest peak which stands 20,310 feet tall. When we began planning our Ultimate Alaskan Road…

Read More Read More

Dawson City, Yukon: The Heart of the Klondike Gold Rush

Dawson City, Yukon: The Heart of the Klondike Gold Rush

Dawson City, a small town in the northern reaches of Canada, celebrates its history perhaps more than any other place we’ve been. In fact, many aspects of the Klondike Gold Rush era are still alive and well today—dirt roads edged by wooden plank walkways, vaudeville shows, sultry saloons, a bath house in lieu of showers, and even rowdy gold miners. As irony goes, my favorite town so far on our “Alaska” road trip isn’t in Alaska (or even the US)…

Read More Read More

Exploring Glacier Bay National Park by Land (and Sea Kayak)

Exploring Glacier Bay National Park by Land (and Sea Kayak)

Where are the glaciers? That was our first question when we arrived at Glacier Bay National Park. As it turns out we didn’t have the typical experience here. In fact, we’re part of the 10% of park visitors that set foot on land in Glacier Bay National Park. The other 90% see the park from the deck of an Alaska cruise ship and spend just 8-10 hours in the park. Glacier Bay National Park is the first official national park…

Read More Read More

Our Favorite Things to Do in Sitka, Alaska

Our Favorite Things to Do in Sitka, Alaska

We are super excited to share this destination guide from our road trip to Alaska. Our first stop is Sitka, Alaska. We chose Sitka because two of my college roommates (who I was well overdue for a visit with) live there and it was a perfect beginning to our Alaskan adventure. This small island city did not disappoint. There are tons of things to do in Sitka. We were lucky enough to spend a week and explore the nature, culture,…

Read More Read More

Sitka Tribal Tours: An Introduction to Alaskan Culture

Sitka Tribal Tours: An Introduction to Alaskan Culture

The first few weeks of travel in Alaska and Canada have been a wild ride both figuratively and literally. We’ve taken Stan the Tan Van on 6 boat voyages, kayaked with sea lions (not intentionally, mind you), camped across from a glacier, celebrated Canada Day with a sour-toe cocktail (complete with a mummified human toe) in an old mining town, and US Independence Day at the crossroads of Tok, Alaska. Needless to say, we have a lot to share already…

Read More Read More

Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Hiking on an Ancient Sea Reef in the Sky

Guadalupe Mountains National Park: Hiking on an Ancient Sea Reef in the Sky

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is one of those parks that doesn’t get a lot of limelight. In fact, a few years ago, before we started our quest to visit all the US national parks, I hadn’t even heard of Guadalupe Mountains. It’s neighbor in New Mexico—Carlsbad Caverns—gets a lot more attention and when you think of a national park in Texas, it’s usually Big Bend that comes to mind. It may be due to its modest nature, but Guadalupe Mountains…

Read More Read More

24 Hours in Petrified Forest National Park

24 Hours in Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park is a place where you can travel through time and literally see layers of earth’s geological and human history. The petrified wood of the park’s namesake are actually fossils from the Triassic Period—225 million years ago. Traces of human habitation here can be dated back over 13,000 years. And within the last hundred years there’s a rich history of our modern society’s interest in the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Before I get into the details…

Read More Read More